Orlando Sentinel publisher resigns

From today's Sentinel:



Orlando Sentinel Publisher Kathleen Waltz resigned today, ending a 34-year career with the newspaper's parent company, Chicago-based Tribune Co.

Howard Greenberg, publisher of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, replaces Waltz, becoming interim publisher and chief executive officer of the Sentinel until a permanent Sentinel publisher is named.

Waltz said that she left after discussing ways to manage Tribune's T-6 newspapers, the name the company uses to denote its six smaller market papers, which include the two Florida publications and four others in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Previously, half those papers reported to the Tribune Co.'s corporate structure through Bob Gremillion, the executive vice president of Tribune Publishing, and half, including the Sentinel, through Waltz first, and then through Gremillion. Under the new structure all will report directly through Gremillion.

Waltz said that streamlined approach made sense to her.

"I saw this as a good opportunity for me to leave," Waltz said. "This gives me an opportunity to do something else. But I have no plans at this point."

Waltz's departure comes less than two months after billionaire real estate magnate Sam Zell orchestrated a stock buyback program that converted Tribune from a publicly held company into an employee-owned business. Zell serves as chairman and chief executive officer of the company.

Waltz did not say that she felt any pressure to leave. But, considering the prospects for changes in high management this year, she said she "raised her hand," volunteering with her resignation.

She said she began working at Tribune when she was 19 and it was time for her to see what opportunities would be like elsewhere. Waltz became the Sentinel's publisher in 2000.

Greenberg said he and Waltz have worked closely for several years as the two papers have coordinated many of their operations. He said he also understands both Florida markets well, and added, "Kathy is one of my best friends in the industry."

As she departed the Sentinel newsroom this morning, Waltz stopped to bid farewell to the staff. She told reporters and editors that she had discussed her departure with Tribune management for several weeks and that leaving was a personal decision.

 

Why do people continue posting full articles on here? I've seen it three times in the past two days. Isn't it still a no-no?

In any case, I'm not surprised by this one, not in the least.

 

Board fave Lynn Hoppes for publisher?

rb

 

Not if he likes that La Bamba mop on his head.

 

Perhaps not surprising, but still it's a shame. Ms. Walz was a Class Act who always had a smile and "Hi" when you'd meet her and never failed to stop and compliment you on an article she liked. Not a hint of the arrogance displayed by the other publishers for whom I've slaved.

 

Same thought here.

 

No wonder she was doomed to FAIL. Better than this biz? She gotta go.

 

Forget something?

She quit, wasn't canned.

 

Reads like the ol' "You can't fire me, I quit!" though.